CO docs cracking down on painkiller abuse

Some emergency room doctors in the Denver area are restricting the types and amounts of addictive painkillers they administer, citing a nationwide increase in overdose deaths. Denver Health' emergency room will stop filling long-term prescriptions for such painkillers as Percocet, OxyContin and Vicodin, the Denver Post reported Saturday. The hospital will also try to limit prescriptions for acute-care painkillers to small amounts to last only until patients can contact their regular physicians. University of Colorado Health is writing policies that would end the practice of filling prescriptions that patients claim were lost or stolen.